F&B startup Oddle cuts 25% staff in profitability push

Oddle founder Jonathan Lim / Photo credit: Oddle

F&B tech startup Oddle is laying off dozens of staff across its four markets – home turf Singapore as well as Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Taiwan – as it reduces costs to drive the firm to profitability.

Staff were first informed on Monday and the news was officially delivered earlier today at a town hall meeting, Tech in Asia understands.

According to an employee, the job cuts affected staff in human resources, marketing, product, and data. The person said that some workers were given one month’s notice with no severance pay, while some were asked to take a salary cut for the next three months.

Oddle employs 112 people, according to its Linkedin page.

An Oddle spokesperson confirmed the retrenchment to Tech in Asia but didn’t reveal the number of affected employees.

“We trimmed our operations in all our offices, which included workforce and other overhead reductions,” the company said in a statement. “We are providing our team with comprehensive support and job placement assistance as we value their contributions and recognise the impact this decision has on them.”

Oddle also noted that its business captured the interest of “a potential investor,” which would have allowed it to capture a bigger market share quicker. However, the deal “has yet to materialize,” so it’s exploring other funding options.

The Singapore-based company has raised about US$9.5 million in funding to date, according to Crunchbase data.

Founded in 2014 by Alan Goh, Jonathan Lim, and Yong Xiang Pua, Oddle offers an online-to-offline solution that helps restaurants manage their operations, including marketing and customer relations.

Lim told Tech in Asia last year that Oddle’s revenue grew 9x between March 2020 and March 2022 and that its food delivery unit turned profitable in 2020.

See also: Oddle built a profitable food delivery business. Here’s how

However,  the company isn’t profitable overall. In its financial year ending March 2021, Oddle posted an operating loss of US$578,000, according to VentureCap Insights, which tracks regulatory filings in Singapore.

Oddle’s statement also said in the past 18 months, the company had made “significant investments” in talent and technology to grow the team “in anticipation of the return of the dine-in business, which has seen a double-digit month-on-month growth.”